http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Ban....

"Record-low mortgage rates and a new slump in home prices are presenting unusual opportunities in the housing market these days -- even for so-called underwater borrowers."

So Called Underwater borrowers?? You either are or you are not, Yes??

"If you are trading up, what better time than when interest rates are at record lows and the cost of the trade-up is much less than it used to be?" says Christopher J. Mayer, a Columbia Business School economist.

Keep drinkin the Kool Aid Chris.

"We don't want to wait for the market to come back," says Scott Ayler, general counsel for an energy company. "We wanted a better quality of life now."

They say they expect better price appreciation in their new home. And with a young daughter and plans for another child, they need more space anyway.

When have I heard this before? People just don't learn do they?

5755: Chris is actually absolutely correct. The best time (financially) to move up is in a down market. (it costs much less)

This is when the firemen, cops, schoolteachers, and other leech**** government or quasi-government employees sweep in and steal the homes (at bargain-basement prices) of all the poor, newly divorced, broken families, of the unemployed private sector wretches.

I've seen this movie before in the late 80's - it turned my stomach.

Life is good when you work for the government and you get to screw over the private sector peasants!

It's kinda like midieval times when the kings soldiers would beat the peasants until they had no more crops/livestock to give them, so they would just steal their women and burn their houses - same system, different era.

Nothing like splitting Jacks against a dealer showing an Ace.

5755: Chris is actually absolutely correct. The best time (financially) to move up is in a down market. (it costs much less)

Guess that would work if you could truely afford to do so. If your taking on another mortgage and hoping for price appreciation....now that's something else.

Quote:

Guess that would work if you could truely afford to do so.

If you work for the government,(or quasi-government) you're good to go - life is great and your fortune and future are secure. (for now) The stories I could tell......

They are just moving up to a better, cheaper place and 10 to 1 odds say that 90% of them have EVERY intention to stop paying on their first home once they are in the new house. Buy while you can and while your credit is still good before you ditch the old underwater house. Believe me, I have thought about doing that myself but my area is really the only area whose property values got totally crushed during this downturn and houses are still too expensive in the Fairfax area for me to comfortably afford.